Sweeping apparatus



Dec. 8, 1964 Filed Feb. 21, 1963 R. L.. COLVER SWEEPING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Ruben L Co/ver A from eys.

Dec. 8, 1964 Filed Feb. 21, 1963 R. L. COLVER SWEEPING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Poberf L. Co/ver Affomeys.

Dec. 8, 1964 R. COLVER SWEEPING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 21, 1963 m .3 Q mm a r 1 WW w a L v w A ML mm. W R B erally is well within the skill of the art, they 3 l59 85h Umted States Patent Ice 8, 3,

It is another object of this invention to provide sweep- I 3 ing apparatus of the aforementioned character together SVVEEFENG APPARATUS Robert L. Culver, Sunnyvale, Calif., assignorto II. Gold- Schmidt & Associatenlnc, lvienlo larlr, alif., a corporation of Qalifornia Filed Feb. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 266,202 6 Claims. ((11. -41) This invention relates to sweeping apparatus and more particularly to sweeping apparatus of the type for use on carpets and the like.

In the past, a great number of sweeping apparatus have been provided for carpets, including vacuum and nonvacuum types. While the vacuum type sweeper has experienced considerable commercial success the non-vacuum type of sweeper has enjoyed only limited commercial recognition. Of several reasons for this limited commercial success, the following are among the foremost. While the non-vacuum sweep-er ordinarily employs rotatable brushes for contact with the carpet or surface to be swept, its brushes normally throw dust and grit into a dust collecting receptacle. However, due to the rotation of the brush and to limited size and proportions of the dust collecting receptacle, dust frequently is thrown in reverse; that is, it is thrown from the receptacle back to the carpet or surface to be swept. This limited size has in the past, been due primarily to the shape of the receptacle wherein a brush throws dust into unequally sized compartments. Another reason for the reverse operation of the sweepers in the prior art is the complete lack of or inadequacy of, restrictive means for retaining dust within the receptacle.

In addition since the non-vacuum type of sweeper requires the brushes to lie adjacent the dust collecting recerptacle, the brushes themselves, mus-t from time to time, be cleaned. Consequently, means must be provided for simple cleaning of the brushes, and such has not been 7 economically provided-in the prior art devices.

In one class of prior art non-vacuum sweeper, the brushes are retained in the bottom wall of the receptacle. In such sweepers, cleaning of the brushes requires access to the brushes from both sides of this bottom wall and, therefore, requires the bottom of the receptacle be upside downfor a portion of this cleaning. Cleaning of the brushes is, therefore, inconvenient in that some particles of dust usually fall upon the cleaning person.

In another class of the prior art non-vacuum sweepers, the brushes are mounted on a separable upper portion of the cleaning receptacle and cleaning of the brushes is thereby facilitated. However, in this latter class of sweeper the actual sweeping action has been ineflioient due .to the fact that the ends of the cylindrical brushes are in substantial contact with the collectedvdust and serve to return the dust to the surface being swept.

Also, since the brushes of the-non-vacuum sweepers must be cleaned from time to time and further since the receptacle itself .must be emptied, it is obvious that the sweeper must from time to time be somewhat disassembled. While disassembly operation of vacuum type sweepers usually requires merely the removal of a flexible hag, the disassembly of a non-vacuum sweeper requires the separation and reassembly of relatively rigid receptacle halves. While the provision of such separable parts genhave, in the past, required relatively expensive parts.

it is, therefore,a general object of this invention to provide an improved sweeping apparatus.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a sweeping apparatus wherein a sweeping brush tions of a dust collecting com-paitment.

with means for retaining dust within the dust collecting receptacle.

It is another object of this invention to provide sweeping apparatus of the aforementioned character together with improved means to provide for the cleaning of the apparatus itself.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a sweeping apparatus of the aforementioned character which is economical in manufacture.

While it is a primary object of this invention to provide sweeping appanatus of the non-vacuum type, it will be apparent that many of the features of the invention will be useful in vacuum type sweeping apparatus.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will'become more clearly apparent upon a review of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a sweeping apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the lower portion of the dust collecting receptacle of the sweeping apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the upper portion of the dust collectingreceptacle of the sweeping apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURESZ and 3;

FIGURE 5 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 showing the cooperation between the upper and lower portions of the receptacle and the provision of a bearing at the peripheral edge or" the receptacle;

FIGURE 6 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 66, showing the coopenation of the upper and lower portions of the dust collecting receptacle along a dividing barrier thereof; and V 1 FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along the line '77 of FIGURE 2 showing a portion of the latching device.

Referring to the drawings, the sweeping apparatus in cludes a dust collecting receptacle 11 which is adapted to be moved across the surface to be swept in the direction of the arrows 13. A handle 15 is connected to the receptacle ill by means of a pivot 16 (FIGURE 3) disposed at right angles to the direction of movement 13. A latch button 17 is provided'for use as will hereinafter be described for releasing upper and lower portions 19 and 21 respectively, of the receptacle II. A recess 23 is provided in the upper portion of the receptacle whereby the handle 15 may be swung substantially parallel to the receptacle itself in order to simplify storage.

As can be seen more clearly. -in FIGURES 2 and 4, the lower portion 21- of the dust collecting receptacle includes a unitary frame 25 which forms'upright walls 27 about the periphery of the lower portion, and barrier means 29 whichdivide the relatively square lower portion into four equally sized square compartments iil. The

punitary, frame further includeaineach of the compartments 31, a pair of web portions 33wln'ch, as will'be seen hereinafter, serve asa gate to prevent the reverse ilow opening .35 which is substantially parallel to the sides of the compartment 31. In addition, the rectangular, openings in any two adjacent compartments lie substantially perpendicular to each other. As can be seen more clearly in FIGURE 4, the Webs lie in planes which are inclined downwardly toward the associated openings 35. Thus the unitary frame includes arig'id structure incorporating peripheral upright walls 27, the interior barriers Z9 and the web portions 33.

The web portions 33 further include a plurality of fingers 37 and 39. A portion 37 of these fingers, are vertically disposed extending upwardly from the adjacent openings 35. Another portion 39 is horizontally disposed and extends away from the adjacent openings.

The bottom of the lower portion is formed by a sheet of material 41 such as aluminum, which spans the bottom of the entire lower portion exclusive of the rectangular openings 35. The sheet 41 is secured to the unitary frame 25 by the bent over portions 43 associated with the various webs 33 and by the upwardly and inwardly extending side edges 45 which cooperate with a shoulder 47 on the unitary frame 25. A bumper 49 of resilient and non-scufling material such as Neoprene overlies the upright portions 45 and the shoulder 47.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, as well as to FIGURES 2 and 4, it is seen that the peripheral walls 27 further include an inwardly extending portion 51 having a recess 53 therein. In addition, referring to FIGURES 4 and 6, the barrier portion 29 includes a recess 55. The recesses 53 and 55 are in line with the rectangular opening 35 whereby they may, as will be seen hereinafter, receive the bearings for a brush which rotates through the opening 35.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, a bottom view of the upper portion 19 of the dust collecting receptacle is shown. The upper portion 19 naturally has a size and configuration complementary to the lower portion. Thus the upper portion includes downwardly extending peripheral walls 57 which overlie the walls 27 of the lower portion. In addition, barrier walls 59 are provided in the upper portion in locations corresponding to the barrier means 29 of the lower portion. As can be seen more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 6, the barriers 59 include a depending portion 61 which cooperates with the recesses 55 to provide complete and flush barriers between adjacent compartments 31. The depending portions 61 include receptacles 63 which receive one bearing 65 of a rotatable brush 67. Opposite the depending portions 61 is a somewhat similar portion 69 which lies adjacent the perimeter of the upper portion 19. The depending section 69 likewise includes a recess 71 for receiving a bearing 73 of the brush 67. As can be seen more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 5, the depending section 69 cooperates with the recess 53 of the lower portion 21, thereby providing a flush mounting for the brush bearing.

In addition, the upper portion 19 includes downwardly extending fingers 75 which lie adjacent the brushes 67.

Latching means are provided in order to retain the upper and lower portions Hand 21 together for convenient separation and reassembly of the same. As can be seen in FIGURES 2 and 7 each corner of the upright peripheral walls 27 includes a recess 77. In the upper portion 19, one corner includes a fixed inwardly extending latch detent 7 9, while the corner opposite includes a moveable latch detent 81. The latch detent 81 rides within guides 83 and is urged outwardly by means of a spring 85 cooperating with a stationary stop 87. The top of the upper portion 19 includes an opening (not shown) through which part of the detent 81 extends and serves as the button 17, shown in FIGURE 1. Thus it is apparent that by urging the button 17 toward the center of the receptacle the detent 81 may be urged out of one of the openings 77 and the upper portion will thereby be separated from the lower portion. Upon reassembly it is apparent that there is no necessity for replacing the upper and lower portions in the same position but that the detents 79 and 81 may cooperate with any of the openings 77 in the lower portion 21.

In the use of the sweeping apparatus as described above, it is apparent that upon passing the same back and forth over the surface to be swept all of the brushes 67 are rotated since they necessarily lie at an angle of 45 from the direction of motion. Rotation of the brushes 67 throws dust, grit and the like upward over the webs 33 and into the compartments 31. Since dust and grit has a tendency to form a fluff within the compartments 31 the upright extending fingers 37 and particularly the horizontally extended fingers 39 serve to maintain the dust on the bottom of the receptacle. Since the ends of the cylindrical brushes lie against flush barriers 29 and 59 on one side and against a flush mounting means 69 and 51 on the other end, dust does not accumulate at the ends of the brushes. With the compartment 31 divided into substantially equal portions on each side of the openings 35, a disproportionate build-up of dust on one side of the brush does not occur and consequentialy clean out of the sweeper need not be as frequent as in prior art devices wherein this receiving area on one side of the brush is usually smaller than that on the other side.

Due to the three piece construction of the receptacle itself including integral frame portion 25 which may be of cast aluminum or the like, the sheet portion 41 which may be of sheet aluminum or the like, together with the upper portion 19 which may be of molded plastic, the cost of construction is substantially reduced from that of the prior art wherein one piece construction of the bottom portion was felt necessary in order to provide efiicient clean out. Thus it is apparent that an improved sweeping apparatus is provided which substantially reduced the various drawbacks and inadequacies of the prior art apparatus.

I claim:

1. Sweeping apparatus comprising a dust collecting receptacle adapted to be passed over a surface to be swept, the bottom of said receptacle having a substantially square configuration, barrier means dividing the bottom of said receptacle into four substantially square and equally sized compartments, the bottom of each of said compartments including a centrally disposed rectangular shaped opening substantially parallel to two sides of the compartment, the rectangular openings in any two adjacent compartments being perpendicularly disposed with respect to each other, resilient brush means disposed adjacent and extending through each of said rectangularly shaped openings, a handle for passing the receptacle over the surface to be swept, and pivot means for supporting said handle on the dust collecting receptacle, the axis of said pivot means being disposed substantially at an angle of with each of said rectangular openings.

2. Sweeping apparatus as defined in claim 1 together with a plurality of fingers disposed adjacent to, but spaced above, said rectangular shaped openings, a first portion of said plurality of fingers being vertically disposed and a second portion of said plurality of fingers being horizontally disposed and extended away from the adjacent openings.

3. Sweeping apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said dust collecting receptacle includes a lower portion and a separable upper portion, said lower portion including upright walls at the periphery thereof, said lower portion also including said barrier means, said upright walls and said barrier means defining recesses in alignment with, and adjacent the ends of said rectangular openings, said upper portion including bearing means for supporting said resilient brush means, said bearing means fitting flush within said recesses in the lower portion when the upper and lower portions are joined together whereby each of said resilient brush means is fully retained by its associated compartment and fully spans its associated rectangular open ng.

4. Sweeping apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said dust collecting receptacle includes a lower portion and a separable upper portion, said lower portion comprising a unitary frame defining the outer limits of said dust collecting receptacle, said unitary frame including said barrier means, said unitary frame further including upright walls at the periphery thereof and a pair of web portions in each of said compartments extending between u c said upright walls and said barrier means, said Web portions defining said rectangular opening, each of said web 7 portions lying in a plane inclined downward toward its associated opening, and a sheet of material retained on the bottom of said frame, said sheet of material spanning that portion of the bottom exclusive of said rectangular openings.

5. In sweeping apparatus, a dust collecting receptacle adapted to be passed over a surface to be swept, said receptacle including a bottom having openings therein, and resilient brushes disposed for rotation through said openings, and a plurality of fingers disposed adjacent to but spaced above said openings, a first portion of said plurality of fingers being vertically disposed and a second portion of said plurality of fingers being horizontally disposed and extended away from the adjacent openings.

6. In sweeping apparatus, a dust collecting receptacle adapted to be passed over'a surface to be swept, said dust collecting receptacle including a lower portion and a separable upper portion, said lower portion defining a plurality of openings therein and including upright walls at the periphery thereof, said lower portion also including barrier means adjacent said openings and extending to said upright walls for dividing the receptacle into a plurality of compartments, said upright walls and said barrier means defining recesses in alignment with, and adjacent the ends of said openings, a resilient brush for each of said openings, said upper portion including bearing means for supporting said resilient brushes, said bearing means fitting flush within said recesses in the lower portion when the upper and lower portions are joined together whereby each of said resilient brushes is fully retained by its associated compartment and fully spans its associated opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 503,678 8/93 Raymond 15-41 1,299,866 4/19 Smith. 1,988,360 1/35 Moore. 2,396,861 3/ 46 Linderoth 15-41 2,403,105 7/46 Linderoth 1541 2,663,888 12/53 Thiele 15-41 2,962,740 12/ 60 Plantholt 1541 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. SWEEPING APPARATUS COMPRISING A DUST COLLECTING RECEPTACLE ADAPTED TO BE PASSED OVER A SURFACE TO BE SWEPT, THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECEPTACLE HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE CONFIGURATION, BARRIER MEANS DIVIDING THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECEPTACLE INTO FOUR SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE AND EQUALLY SIZED COMPARTMENTS, THE BOTTOM OF EACH OF SAID COMPARTMENTS INCLUDING A CENTRALLY DISPOSED RECTANGULAR SHAPED OPENING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO TWO SIDES OF THE COMPARTMENT, THE RECTANGULAR OPENINGS IN ANY TWO ADJACENT COMPARTMENTS 